I managed to get my hands on Crackdown 2 a couple weeks ago, but I’ve just now found some time to write about it. The first Crackdown was really fun. It combined a lot of the Grand Theft Auto styles and included some of it’s own. In fact I am pretty sure that this game includes some of the developers and team members from Grand Theft Auto, however I could be wrong.

That said, Crackdown 2 takes a bit of a turn and introduces a bit of a different gameplay then the first game. An organization, The Cell has taken over most of Pacific City and has shutdown all the reactors which you need to reclaim. When you reclaim a section a beacon is then deployed which you need to activate. The game also introduces a new breed of hell dubbed “the freaks”. These mutants are a product of the organization you work for. With each beacon activation you clear out the freaks from that section of the city.

Basically your objectives in the game are to reclaim the reactors, activate the beacons and get rid of the freaks. There are also points in the city controlled by The Cell which you can reclaim as well. The game keeps true to it’s original version by including agility races and car races each which when won boost your driving and agility abilities. The abilities ‘leveling’ is something that I really like and could even be considered a reason as to why I like the Crackdown series over Grand Theft Auto. It adds another element to the game, and makes it a bit more fun and rewarding.

There were a couple difficult and frustrating parts within the game. I found myself having to play a few areas multiple times because of poor camera angles or odd controls or unusually difficult enemies. The most frustrating parts I think were a few of the beacon activations as well as some of the end level areas. I would get a bunch of enemies that surrounded me and each of them would have
a rocket or grenade launcher and would be continuously firing on me so I could never stand up to move or run away. I also found the last mission to be a bit of a pain. I think I must have played through that one 10+ times before I finally got it right.

Overall I am very impressed with the game. It was a lot of fun to play. The world of Crackdown 2 is huge and a real pleasure to play in. The game includes a bunch of new weapons and cars. The story line was a nice change from the usual ‘track down bosses and beat them to win’. I for one am definitely looking forward to a Crackdown 3!

I should mention before I installed any applications I setup my email accounts which did take some time (but I blame this on my server). It wasn’t fun typing in my 16 character cryptic passwords multiple times. I also added my CalDAV account so I could have my calendars on my iPad. All very simple processes, pretty much the same as how it’s done on the iPhone.

One I had my calendar account and email accounts setup I setup my iPad with some of my applications and games. Again, same as how it’s done on the iPhone through iTunes.

After getting some applications installed I checked out the mail application. In portrait mode I found it not very fun to use, however in landscape mode I found it to be much more manageable. I do however miss the combined Inbox which my iPhone has since it’s on iOS 4.0. I still find the Mail application to be easy to navigate and use. I’ve even sent out a few emails. The keyboard on the iPad may take a bit of getting used to for me. I find myself making mistakes often and it does get to be a bit frustrating. Sometimes I find that I can’t hold the iPad and type which also gets a bit on my nerves. I find I have to set the iPad on the desk on on my lap and then type.

My next gripe is that 95% of my applications look terrible on the iPad, because they’re not specifically built for the iPad. I basically removed all the games I had installed, as well as most applications. I do have a couple iPad ready applications like Dropbox and Twitterrific which look beautiful. I think my wish list for applications would be:

1. Facebook
2. TouchTerm
3. Mirai Clock 2
4. Flickr
5. iKana
6. Doodle Jump
7. FML

I would love to see iPad-friendly versions of these apps (preferably without paying too much). I don’t like how some of the apps I have require me to purchase an HD or iPad version for 5x what I already paid. However, if that’s what it’ll be then I guess I’ll just have to buy them.

Overall I am pleased with my iPad. Had I not traded my MacBook, I definitely wouldn’t have purchased the iPad. It’s still too pricey. I do think this will make for a great companion and is a lot easier to bring around then a netbook or laptop.

I found this game while perusing the App Store for iPhone. It actually didn’t have very many ratings so it seems not many people have found it yet. Even now it seems to be pretty low-key. However, I can see it getting bigger shortly. The game itself is pretty fun. Basically you’re to protect the homes of a few residents in your town from the zombie outbreak. There’s a few different types of zombies as well as various methods you can use to protect your home. Zombies range from normal ones to giant zombies and even screaming old granny zombies. You’re provided with wooden boards and even a machine which can help fend off the attacks. Another neat twist in the game is that if a zombie does make it inside the house, you’re still able to kill them, but the zombie will leave a trail of guts which needs to be cleaned up in order to successfully complete the level.

The game includes some achievements as well. It probably only took me an hour or so to complete the whole game, which is a bit saddening. It would have been nice to see more levels, I believe there’s really only 4 (with 4-5 parts to each level). It would have also been nice to see a wider variety of weapons and ways to protect your house. The variety of zombies could have been a bit more as well. For only 0.99 cents you can’t go wrong through.

After playing the little flash version of the game that PopCap has online I went out and spent the $3 on the game. Completely worth it! While there’s a couple frustrating spots in the game which required me to play a level 3 or 4 times to complete them most levels are pretty easy to complete as long as you’ve got your tactics down. The game overall is really simple though. You need to protect your home from the invading zombies. You have a wide variety of different plants which you can plant to protect your home. Plants range from the simple pea shooter to fun plants like the venus fly traps and cat tails. Just as your plants vary, so do the zombies. There’s normal zombies, to zombies driving zambonies, to Michael Jackson zombies and more.

The game also include achievements so I felt a little bit better about having spent all that time playing the game. At least now I can show off some of the achievements I got! When you complete the game you unlock the Quick Play mode which allows you to select between levels and the mini-games. The ability to go back and reply any of these levels is really great as well as choose any of the mini-games. It adds a lot of replay to the game itself. It also makes grabbing some of those achievements a lot easier.

For the $3 I spent on the game, I’d say it was well worth it. I’ve definitely gotten my monies worth and I highly recommend this game to anyone with an iPhone/iPod touch (or PC/Mac). When and if I ever get the Apple iPad I’ll be purchasing the higher definition version of the game as well. Check out the Plants vs. Zombies website if you haven’t already and try out the online version they’ve got up. You’ll get hooked!

After completing Final Fantasy IX I was going to work on Final Fantasy X-2 but I’d been kind of Final Fantasy’d out. After asking for a couple ideas of what to play instead, Bayonetta popped up a couple times. I didn’t know much about the game, but I had read and heard it was pretty bad-ass…

Bad-ass barely scratches the surface of how bad-ass this game really is. Within the first few minutes of playable time, you can already call upon these huge demons that reside within Bayonetta. I think one of the first ones that’s she’s able to summon is my favorite. It’s like a vicious dog, dragon, demon that will eat you up! The game play is very similar to that of the Devil May Cry series. It’s basically just and action packed story with a pretty decent story-line.

Bayonetta’s story is a bit difficult to grasp in the beginning and it was only towards the end that I really started to understand what was going on. It does feel like it hurts the game overall, because as much fun as blowing shit up is, it’s hard when you can only partially understand what’s going on. Eventually though, it does come together, you may even experience that “Ah-Hah!” moment.

The controls within the game are quite simple to learn and use. There’s tons of different combos you can unleash upon your foes, and the finishing or climax moves are really fantastic. However, I did find myself dying multiple times because at several points throughout the game you need to hit or repeatedly hit a button to save yourself from dying. I did feel like 95% of the game I was just button mashing to get through, but then and again, I probably did the same in Devil May Cry. The only point where I really used the combos was during the level loading times. During these times you’re shown on-screen which button combos you can perform and you can practice them while the next level loads. It sure beats staring at the screen and waiting!

Another neat little thing in Bayonetta is that at the end of each level you get to play this arcade shooter. Each kill or hit awards you some points which you can spend on items (power ups, etc). Of course I never really had enough hits to get anything useful so I ended up trading them in for halos. It actually wasn’t until the last or second to last level that I figured out where to spend these halos. You can visit a shop owned by your buddy and he offers you anything from health revitalizing lollipops, to weapon upgrades. You can also collect these record (yes like the music kind) fragments and he’ll take those from you and provide you with new guns and other weapons.

Each level is riddled with various types of enemies and some levels have end-bosses. I attempted to think of what game I could compare these enemies too, but couldn’t think of anything! They’re quite unique, and rather large. One of the first large enemy encounters you have I had thought was going to be the final boss being that he was incredibly large and seemed like the ruler of the world. However he ends up being one of the bosses you meet in a few levels. The final boss is actually someone who’s voice you hear throughout the game. Overall I am really impressed with the character and boss designs. They’re quite unique (trust me you’ll know what I mean when you see a couple of these bosses)! Each boss has a different way to kill them, so it’s does provide you with a good challenge each time. Each normal enemy also has a unique way that you finish them off which I found to be pretty fun.

The graphics and sound in Bayonetta I also to find to be superb. Each level is well design and beautiful in own way, regardless of whether you’re in a forest or a town that’s be burned to the ground. There were a couple instances when the camera and level environment didn’t play nice and several times got me killed. Other then that, A+ work.

Overall I found that Bayonetta was an awesome game and really appreciate the people that recommended it to me. I fear that it would have taken quite a while to get to this game otherwise. If you’re looking for a really fun to play, kick the shit out of everything, make you laugh, fall in love with the girl, awesome kind of game, definitely check this one out!

After putting some careful thought in what I would like, I’ve come to the conclusion that I would really like to own and train a dog. Of course not just any dog, but a German Shepherd Dog. I’ve put together a small blog which I plan to use to track my or rather our progress. So far it’s just a couple postings and a video or two, but it’ll definitely pick up when I actually get the dog! Check it out at jimmyhasadog.com!

I won’t review too much of the game, but I must say SquareSoft (yes, this is before they became SquareEnix) did a fantastic job on the soundtrack and graphics for this game. While I know it’s already 2010, the graphics for the games time were quite good and even now the FMVs look really great!

I really enjoyed playing through this story and now my attentions are focused on completed Final Fantasy X-2 and Final Fantasy XII so I can see the amazingness of Final Fantasy XIII!

About a week ago, Apple finally released the product into the hands of the public and I’ve seen most if not all positive reviews for the device. I believe the only negative talk about the unit is that some of devices are having issues connecting to WiFi access points. Apple has already submitted a support article on this.

I’ve also been hearing various numbers on the sales of the iPad, and they do seem quite impressive. The same goes with the sales of the iBooks and iPad-specific applications. While I don’t intend to get one within the next 6 months or even 1 year I think I may continue keeping my eye on it, and hopefully my hands soon. I would love to see the second generation iPad be wide-screen and have the ability to run a more fully-featured operating system. At present I feel anything that could be done on the current iPad can also be done on my phone. It seems silly to drop a minimum of $500 on the current iPad.

If the pricing had been a bit better, I would almost say this would be great entry-level Mac product for people new to the world of Apple, but at $500, and without being fully-featured, it seems like going the route of the Mac mini would be a wiser choice. This is definitely not to say one should be using an iPad as a main computing device, but if they had taken the extra steps to put an OS X tablet variant on here, I for one would certainly start considering it. I would much rather carry around this sized device over my MacBook.

The Apple iPad in its current state is not for me. It definitely seems like many people are enjoying it though. I do feel quite let down by this release, but there’s always future revisions which may catch my attention. For now, I’ll stick with my iPhone and MacBook in terms of my portable Apple devices.